Island



w. E GREASE. HIYE CONNECTOR 0R CROSSOVEH.

APPLICATION FILED APR- 10. I919.

Inventor.

ttorney.

Patented Nov. 11, 1919.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER E. GREASE, OF EAST GREENWICH, RHODE ISLAND.

I-IIVE .comvrioror. on onossovna.

Application filed April 10, 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER E. GREASE, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Greenwich, in the county of Kent and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hive Connectors or Crossovers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in a hive connector or cross over, and the principal object is to provide a structure from which the queen bee cannot escape and consequently the worker bees will follow the queen bee from one hive to the connected one so that the loss of the swarm will be negligible.

During swarming time it is customary to join two hives by a bridge, one of the hives being empty to receive the bees from the other. Much loss results by the escape of the queen bee which the worker bees follow, and to overcome this loss is the aim of the present invention.

To this end the invention resides in the features of construction hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing wherein Figure l is a fragmental side elevation of the improved hive connector.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section therethrough on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Specifically, the hive connector comprises a bridge 1 and a series of wires 2 bent into a somewhat semi-circular form with their terminals 3 pointed and inturned to be embedded in the side edges of the bridge 1, said bowed wires being sustained in parallel relation by means of a ridge wire or stay t connected thereto.

The bridge is, therefore, preferably made of wood to facilitate the securement of the roof wires 2, the depth to which their terminals 3 are embedded being determined by the adjacent leg portions which abut and bear frictionally against the side edges of the bridge, as indicated at 5, to further support the wires in their upright position. The ridge wire may be secured to any or all of the roof wires by solder or the like.

The spacing of the roof wires is a very material part of this invention, the same being such that while the worker bees can readily pass between the wires the queen bee cannot do so and is thus confined within the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. .11, 1919.

Serial No. 288,925.

tunnel defined by the open frame work of wires constituting the roof.

In practice, about swarming time one occupied hive is joined to an empty hive by the connector, the ends of the bridge projecting beyond the roof for insertion in the en trance-s of the hives. Thus, when the queen leaves the first hive she is confronted on all sides by the roof frame and prevented from escape, so that naturally she passes over the bridge into the empty hive and carries the bulk of worker bees with her. Consequently, the loss of worker bees is almost negligible and very small, if at all. The construction is very economical and light and by means of the open framework over the bridge the queen is induced to come out from the occupied hive.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. A hive connector comprising a bridge, a series of semi-circular roof wires arranged thereover and having their terminals pointed and inturned into the side edges thereof, said pointed terminals being embedded to a depth sufficient to have the adjacent portions of the wires frictionally engage said side edges, and said wires being arranged in parallel relation and sufficiently close together to prevent the escape of the queen bee but permit passage of the worker bees therebetween, and a ridge wire connecting the upper portions of the wires first mentioned to support them in parallel and spaced relation.

2. In a hive connector, a base, and a series of independent parallel bowed wires forming a roof thereover, said wires having terminals which are bent at an angle thereto so as to lie parallel to the base and are secured to the latter.

8. A hive connector comprising a fibrous striplike bridge, and a series of parallel bowed wires forming a roof thereover and having their terminals pointed and embedded in the respective opposite sides of said bridge.

4. A hive connector comprising a bridge, and a plurality of independent Wires having pointed terminals inturned in opposing relation and embedded in the respective opposite side edges of the bridge.

5. A'hive connector comprising a bridge, a plurality of bowed roof wires secured thereto in spaced and parallel relation and a ridgeiwire connecting the roof Wires and' in a roof 'threover and havin their terininalssecured to the respective opposite side portions of the base, the base having end portions whichproject beyond the outermost Wires'so as to form supports for projection into the entrances of two adjacent 10 hives.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name tothis specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WALTER E. GREASE.

Witnesses:

ADA E. HAGERTY, J. A. MILLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

' Washington, D. 0. 

